The Light in Us

26. Teddy

26

Teddy

F ox tugs my lip free from where I’m chowing down like it’s a chew toy.

He scowls at me. “Stop that. You’re making me nervous.”

I scoff, but I still push into him until I can slip under his arm and breathe him in. My favorite place to be. “Don’t even try with me. Like you got any sleep last night.”

He grumbles, but we both know I’m right. He tossed and turned, finally getting up around four and going to work in his office at home. Even Rowan was tetchy this morning, his normally cool mood frayed by the stress radiating from the three alphas in our pack. Especially Wilder.

Sighing, I slip into my chair and rearrange the gilded name on my desk again. Then my pens. Then I reach for the towering stack of unread manuscripts that I’ve been too afraid to touch in case they bury me under a mountain of paper.

Death by the written word.

What a way to go.

But Fox pulls me back, his hands firm on my shoulders. “She’s not even late.”

I start worrying at my lip again, glancing at the clock. “No.”

I gave her the hours she wanted – the hours she needed, for reasons yet unknown to me. And that unreasonably annoys me too, because I’ve decided that I want to know everything about Fallon.

My fellow omega.

My omega twin.

Twinsies?

For one wild moment, I have a vision of us in matching outfits.

When my phone rings, I launch myself over the table to grab it. Lauren, back from her stomach flu. “Fallon is here for you, Teddy.”

“Coming!” Fox is already moving for the door as I throw myself to my feet.

I wobble. My hand shoots out, brushing my paperwork.

My eyes widen as the stack of manuscripts teeters. “Oh, sweet baby Jesus, no—,”

It’s like a slow-motion horror movie. One sheet slides from the pile, then a few. Ten. Twenty.

Seventy-five million sheets of paper topple onto me like a freaky paper avalanche, the rustling a clear threat. “Aaaaack!”

Firm hands drag me back from the line of fire. “ Honestly .”

We both stare at the paper that now covers most of my office. I clear my throat. “Good job Emily’s not here, really.”

She’d definitely chase me with the baseball bat for this. She’s spent the last six months bugging me to make the time to read them.

Which I want to do. Desperately.

But there’s not enough hours in the day.

“This is an issue for future Teddy,” I declare, gingerly stepping between sheets.

“Just hand them to the Acquisitions team,” Fox grumbles as he follows behind me.

My tone is intentionally casual. “Well, I can’t do that now. I have to sort them out first.”

Maybe I can read a few pages while I’m doing it. Multi-tasking.

Fallon is waiting for us in Reception. Her blue dress has vanished, replaced by a sleek black dress and heels that show off her lower legs.

Beside me, I feel Fox slow, and grab his arm. “No mauling.”

“Not even funny,” he mutters. His scent jumps, spiking the air, but there’s no sign of the need I can feel pulsing through the pack bond as he reaches for Fallon’s hand. “Welcome back.”

She smooths down her dress after they shake. “Thank you. I’m excited to be here.”

I’m grinning widely as she turns to me. “I’m glad you’re here.”

Her smile is shy, but genuine. “Me too. I didn’t expect you both to meet me.”

“Teddy will take you around this morning,” Fox explains. “You’ll see the rest of us at lunch.”

A casual, family lunch on my floor, in our space.

One where Wilder and Fallon can meet, and we can pin him down if we need to.

Fox glances between us. But it’s me he settles on. His lips twitch up. “Try not to get into any more trouble before lunch.”

My hand spreads across my chest. “Me? Trouble?”

My eyelashes have never batted so fast. Fox shakes his head, his expression softening as he lands on Fallon. “Have a good morning.”

“Thank you.” She leans forward, yanking herself back as heat suffuses her cheeks. Fox turns, but I catch his fingers curling into fists as he heads for the stairs instead of the elevator.

Fallon falls into step beside me. “Teddy – I’m really sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” I glance down at her. She’s only an inch or two shorter than me, but I quite like being a little taller. Must be how the alphas feel.

She’d fit perfectly under my arm.

Her face is scarlet now. “Your alphas – the scents – I didn’t mean to overstep. Especially yesterday. They’re just a lot to get used to.”

“I get it.” I press the button for Human Resources as we get into the elevator. “They smell like snacks, right? Hard not to want a bite.”

Her mouth opens, then closes. “You don’t… you sound like you don’t mind.”

Ah. First hurdle.

Because if it were anyone else sniffing around my alphas – even Zeke and Wilder, I’d likely be a lot less friendly about it. I once full-on body tackled another omega who tried to touch Fox’s ass. Launched myself into her midsection like I was one of the rugby players I saw at a game once, and I took that handsy wench down. It was freaking impressive .

I still remember the look on her face. Yeah, bitch. Paws off.

“Uh. We… we’re pretty open.”

The fuck does that mean, Teddy? She’s going to think we’re all swingers.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but we are firmly a closed pack. Outside of our established relationships, we don’t share.

I start chewing on my lip again. “Anyway. We’ll get you registered with HR, sort out your salary and then go and see Rowan for your tech.”

“Oh. Sure.” But she shifts on her feet. “I… I meant to ask this yesterday. What happens if… if I don’t have an ID? Do I need one?”

I turn down to her, my lips twitching. “Legally, yes. Don’t panic if you forgot it. Is this where I find out you’re some kind of secret sleeper agent? Do you have a driver’s license?”

Fallon shakes her head. Her shoulders drop. “I should have asked this yesterday. I just… I thought I might have something at home, but I looked everywhere.”

“Don’t worry.” We step out onto the floor. “We do need an ID, but I’m pretty sure you can make an application for one and give us the receipt, and then you’ve got a few months to get it in.”

“Okay.” Her voice is barely a whisper as she comes to a stop. “I didn’t… I mean, I really didn’t think. Because I don’t have a bank account at the moment, either.”

Alarm bells start to ring inside my head.

Gently, I take her arm and pull her into an empty side-room, closing the door behind us.

Fallon looks miserable as I close the door behind us and turn to her. “This isn’t going to work, is it?”

“That depends.” I lean on the table, crossing my arms. “Are you in trouble, Fallon?”

She looks so scared. And my heart nearly breaks for her, but I pull it back. In my head, I run through any explanations I can think of for her having no identification… and no bank account.

I wait as her eyes dart around the room. She swallows. “I’m not… I’m not a criminal, Teddy.”

“Oh, sweetheart,” I keep my voice low. “I didn’t think that. But I’m a little worried. How old are you?”

“Twenty-five.”

“Okay,” I say slowly. “But… you went to college, you said? I know you didn’t finish, but you would have had an ID for that – and a bank account.”

Fallon nods. She looks as if she’s chewing a damn hole in her cheek. “I don’t know where my ID is. And my bank account…well, we have a pack one.”

Every single muscle in my body turns to stone.

Fox immediately starts tugging on the pack bond, sensing the panic that floods my veins as I stare at her.

Fallon has a pack .

Fuck.

This whole situation just became a lot more complicated.

“Oh,” I say finally. My voice is hoarse. “I assumed – I’m so sorry. I didn’t see a bonding mark on you.”

“I don’t have any.”

And now my emotions are seesawing all over the fucking place. Because scent-matching is rare. Not everyone finds their mate. And it’s common to be bitten into a pack, when people are in a secure, loving relationship. Hell, omegas need to be bitten in, or it hurts them to spend too much time around a pack and not be part of it. Social ostracization on a biological level is no joke, and no decent alpha would mess around with it.

Like me. Even Rowan has a bite mark, despite not needing one. Fox insisted on it, that he was just as much part of our pack as anyone else. Rowan tattooed over the faded marks to keep them.

For an omega to be part of a pack, but not bitten—

“Fallon.” My words are quiet, but they’re vibrating with an emotion that I can’t name yet. “How much pain are you in right now, sweetheart?”

She doesn’t look me in the eye. “I’m fine. I promise. But the documents—,”

“Fuck the documents.” I can’t remember ever feeling this livid in my life. “Fallon. Your pack hasn’t bitten you? How long have you been with them? Is this a new thing?”

But even as I say it, I know I’m wrong. Because more about Fallon is making sense now. The way she hunches into herself. The crinkle between her eyes that doesn’t seem to go away, even when she’s smiling.

No bonding marks makes all of this a lot easier. But I don’t care about any of that, as I watch Fallon wrap her arms around her body.

Like she’s hurting. Right now, in front of me.

“Seven years,” she whispers. “Teddy… please don’t tell anyone. Please .”

My hands grip into the desk underneath me, to stop me reaching from her.

Seven fucking years?

They’re going to lose their minds.

Wilder and his nature will be nothing compared to the three alphas in our pack when they find out their scent-matched mate is tied to a pack that’s kept her on the edges for seven fucking years .

I feel as though I’m going to lose my own damn mind. I force my voice to keep steady. “You don’t want them to know you’re working here? That’s why you’re not using their account?”

She nods. And I watch in horror as her eyes fill up. “I’m leaving. But… I needed a job. Some money to get away.”

To get away.

This pack… they’re not just ostracizing her. They’re actively hurting her.

“Do they hurt you?” I ask quietly. “Outside of the lack of bond? Physically?”

She shakes her head. I should be relieved by that.

But there are many ways to hurt someone. And not all of them leave visible marks.

Fallon covers her face with her hands. Her shoulders begin to shake, and I jump off the desk as a sob slips out. “I’m so sorry, Teddy. I should go. You have enough—.”

“Come here.” I throw my arms around her and drag her into me, holding her tightly as she almost collapses. “And stop that. You’re not going anywhere, okay? Does anyone else know? Who do you have, Fallon?”

Family. Friends. A damn neighbor.

But her small whisper nearly guts me. “I don’t have anyone.”

Wrong.

So fucking wrong.

“You do now,” I say grimly. I grip her tightly. “You and I are going to my office. And we’re going to work out a plan. Okay?”

She buries herself into me, gripping me so tightly that I wonder when the hell the last time was that anyone even held her. Even her cries are quiet. As if she’s so used to holding them in that she can’t make any fucking noise.

We stay there for… a long time. Long enough that Fox moves from tugging on the bond to calling me, over and over again.

I refuse to let go of Fallon until she’s ready.

My eyes feel damp, and I close them, my hand gently rubbing her back. “We’re going to fix this.”

Fallon first.

And then I need to work out how to tell my pack that our new omega – and she is ours , no matter who has a mystical damn mating bond - is possibly traumatized far beyond anything we might have expected.

And hope they don’t lose their minds over it.